Stereoscopic displays are becoming increasingly more popular. Stereoscopic display devices include e.g. LCD and plasma displays utilizing shutter glasses, LCD devices which can be used in conjunction with polarizing glasses as well as various other types of stereoscopic display devices.
Stereoscopic content may already be provided for such display devices by means of e.g. pre-recorded material in the form of 3D-BD discs, capable of delivering full resolution 1920×1080 images for both the left and right eye. In the meantime, standardization of 3D broadcast is being discussed in various fora.
In order to deliver stereo content so-called frame compatible formats, where the left and right view are combined into one normal HD (1920×1080) frame, are considered to be very attractive. These formats allow re-use of the existing HD infra-structure including e.g. existing DVB broadcast channels, re-use of existing STB hardware, etc. in order to enable stereo content delivery.
In order to enable distribution of content most 3D TV receivers support several frame compatible formats such as via the HDMI input interface, see e.g. http://www.hdmi.org/manufacturer/specification.aspx for the publicly downloadable 3D portion of the HDMI V1.4a specification.
However one important drawback of the frame compatible distribution formats is their reduced spatial resolution. It has been suggested that the limitations of the frame compatible distribution formats can be overcome by enabling the addition, e.g. at a later stage, of an enhancement layer.